Moresby North-West

Acting Returning officer Dickson Toru said Independent candidate Issac Lupari was eliminated from the race. Only the top three remain.

After exclusion 23, the top three candidates are Lohia Boe Samuel, Joe Tonde and Dr. Thaddeus Kambanei.

After the distribution of Lupari’s ballot papers, Boe Samuel received 923 votes. His total was at 20, 080 votes.

Tonde collected 750 votes bringing his total to 14, 481 votes, and PNC candidate Dr. Thaddeus Kambanei received 1,288 votes, bringing his tally to 10,491 votes.

Governor Parkop said Samuel’s overwhelming victory should be the beginning of a new era.

His win comes at a time when Governor Parkop and Motu Koitabu Assembly are working in collaboration to improve the lives of the indigenous people. 

He said under his Motu Koita Modernisation initiative, major developments have been delivered, citing clean water projects, Boe Vagi Road and Hanuabada market project.

“We need to extend these initiatives to the other villages, including a new health centre at Metoria in Hanuabada,” Governor Parkop added. 

“Enough public information, gathered by myself and others, is now available to justify high-level investigations into the spending by the Prime Minister, Mr Peter O’Neill, the APEC Minister, Mr Justin Tkatchenko, and the APEC Authority CEO, Mr Christopher Hawkins,” Sir Mekere said in a statement today.

“This information indicates a strong likelihood that the Leadership Code, the Constitution, the Criminal Code and other laws have been broken.

Commissioner Baki made the comments after media claims by the Member of Parliament for Moresby North-West, Sir Mekere Morauta, about a discredited attempt to serve an arrest warrant against the Prime Minister four years ago.

“Commissioner Baki said: “Media claims by the Member for Moresby North-West are unfortunate and misleading and only serve to undermine public confidence in law enforcement operations.

The indefinite suspension began last Thursday when students were sent home after an inspection by NCDC Health officers on March 8^th.

This led to a suspension notice served on the school principal.

The sanitary facilities, classrooms and the management of waste did not comply with Chapter 226 of the Public Health Regulations Part III - on Sanitary Convenience.

Sir Mekere said the petition was dismissed on legal, procedural and technical grounds.

The dismissal came after the court found the petition was incompetent. Petitioner Lohia Boe Samuel failed to comply with requirements of section 208 of the Organic law.  

Samuel failed to state the occupation of the two attesting witnesses in the petition, which is a requirement, breaching section 208(d) of the organic law.

“It’s a matter of law, the law’s been enforced right here.

Sir Mekere told the media this morning, prior to his declaration as member-elect for Moresby North-West.

His return to politics comes after a term absence. He was the MP from 1997 to 2012.

From retirement, Sir Mekere said he is making a comeback because he is worried about the country’s future.

He thanked the people of Moresby North-West for giving him the privilege of representing them.

He said he chose to return and play the game instead of watching and criticising.

"The last five years has changed in its democratic character," he said.

The announcement was made at 9am today while a declaration is expected soon.

After the 35th elimination of Honk Kiap, Sir Mekere polled 14,007 votes, passing the absolute majority of 12,918.

Kiap's votes of 4,877 were distributed among the top three candidates. 2,351 were exhausted votes.

Sir Mek picked up 1,106 votes, Tonde picked 824 while Samuel got 596 votes.

Sir Mekere Morauta is still climbing and leading the competition as exclusion continues.

The progressive results are as follows;

Assistant election manager for NCD, Bale Kavanamur, informed counting officials today to fast track counting and elimination.

Following the 24th exclusion from this morning, only 14 candidates remain in the race.

The top five for the Moresby North-West seat are as follows: